The Sotkaniemi property is located at the very tip of the cape on Lake Paatari. It is a big house with three bedrooms and a large living room with a fireplace. The sauna is in a separate building.
When we arrived, we all said “Wow!” at least once because we felt this was just the perfect place for a week-long family vacation.
The powerboat stood near the house, ready for departure. Although none of us had tried driving it before, we all had at the end of this week. The first trial was after taking our luggage inside.
What did we do there for a week?
We learned how to use spinning. The Sotkaniemi cottage is taken care of by Aune and Vilho, the neighbors. It seems that they also take care of the guests. They brought us the freshly caught fish. They instructed us to use the spinning, and they smoked the fish.
We visited Kalliosaari at Lake Paatari on a beautiful sunny day. Kalliosaari is an inhabited small cliff in the middle of the lake Paatari. We had a picnic there. We also found different berries to taste.
Vilho took us to a bog to pick up bakeapples. This was a refreshing walk in the bog in the fresh air. Bakeapple season was already ending, but we still managed to pick up some liters for a jam within 1.5 hours. After that, we made pancakes and ate them with homemade fresh jam. It is hard to find something comparable to that after being out the whole day in the fresh air.
We enjoyed the reindeer families who visited us every morning and every evening. At first, we were slightly frightened when they came so close to the house. But already, on the second day, it was just a pleasure to follow their routines.
We bought reindeer skins and antlers as souvenirs. The skin made our cat at home a bit stressed.
The story continues at Fishing at Lake Paatari.
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